Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard is an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, but it doesn’t look like he’ll be wearing a new jersey next year.
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According to reports, the Red Wings are expected to re-sign the New York native to a contract believed to be one-year in length and around $4 million in salary.
Jimmy Howard is close to signing a 1-year contract extension with the Red Wings. Howard said some language is being worked out, but it's going to get done. Ken Holland confirmed. Howard said he's fine with a 1-year deal. He had no desire to leave Detroit. "It's home," he said.
— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) March 20, 2019
The decision is expected to be announced later this week.
“It means a lot,” Howard said. “I love playing for the Wings. My family loves living in Detroit. It’s very special.”
Though a one-year contract may seem short, Howard said that he’s fine playing on one-year contracts in the same style as former Red Wings players such as Steve Yzerman and Nicklas Lidstrom did later in their careers.
“I’ll turn 35 in a week and from there on out, I’m playing with one-year contracts,” Howard said.
So far this season with the Red Wings, Howard has put up an 18-20-5 record with a 3.07 goals-against-average and a .907 save percentage. He was also a participant in the 2019 NHL All-Star Game for the third time in his career.
Though his numbers might not look very impressive, he has been one of Detroit’s best and most consistent players during another non-playoff year.
BONUS CONTENT:
Fan sign beckons Steve Yzerman to save the Red Wings
It’s pretty self-explanatory.
The Detroit Red Wings were officially eliminated from playoff contention for the third consecutive season. Though most fans had given up on the notion of the Stanley Cup playoffs months ago, it was still a disappointing milestone for a team that had just spent 25 consecutive years playing for a chance to be the last team standing.
A long-time Red Wings fan who lives in Montreal attended Tuesday night’s game at the Bell Centre against the Montreal Canadiens brought a sign beckoning the former captain to save the team, much like he did with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Time for change.#LGRW #DETvsMTL pic.twitter.com/GiyP7tmpNc
— Peter Andrianopoulos (@peterandri) March 12, 2019
The fan, identified as Peter Andrianopoulos, said that he got a positive reaction from Red Wings fans in the crowd, and that even some of the players noticed.
“I didn’t think anybody would pick up on (the sign),” he said during a phone call with The Detroit Free Press
